Bella Notte
by Carlos'sCupcake
Summary: VALENTINE'S DAY STORY about Kendall and his 'friend'. *Title is based on a song from Lady And the Tramp. Not the best story ever written by the way!


Laying with my head on Kendall's lap, I smile up at him smugly as I hand him back his phone. I just took the 'Moron Test' on his app and got a better score than he did.

"You cheated somehow!", he yells when he looks at the screen and sees my score.

"No I didn't", I sit up, peering up at him from under his arm now. "Everyone knows that girls are smarter than guys", I stick my tongue out at him.

My handsome blonde roommate's fingertips find my ribs and he starts to tickle me. Instead of giggling like I normally would, I nuzzle my face into his side and bite down on a chunk of his skin, achieving my goal when he jumps away from me, yelling, "Owwww".

"Never insult my intelligence!", I get up to my feet and proceed to the bathroom. "I have to get ready now." Today is Valentine's Day and I have kind of a blind date. Over the past two months I've been chatting online to this guy I met from playing an online game. I know it's weird and this guy could be a creeper, but I've never had any odd/bad gut feelings about talking to him and I let him convince me to meet him tonight; in a public place of course.

A little over an hour later, I exit my bedroom, fully dressed, make-up applied, hair perfectly done, and ready to go with my clutch in my hand. I saunter into the living room where Kendall is still lounging in front of the sofa watching MythBusters, and make it a point to stand directly in front of the t.v. and twirl around. "How do I look?", I ask, desperate for his opinion. I really like this guy I've been talking to and I'm nervous, wanting to make a good impression.

"Well", Kendall sits up straight on the sofa and sweeps his eyes over me. "I say you look stunning."

"Really?", I ask feeling self conscious. "You don't think my dress is too short or too tight, or I have too much make-up on? Does my hair look alright?"

"Not at all", the blonde gets up and steps toward me, taking my hands in his. "You look perfect, so quit worrying", he tries to calm me down.

I take a deep breath and fan myself, my heart is beating rapidly and butterflies are going berserk in my tummy. "Okay", I force myself to utter as I search through my clutch to make sure everything I need is inside.

"So who is this guy and where exactly are you going?", Kendall asks.

"Umm", I chew my lip, knowing he most likely won't approve of my response. "Zom-be-killah90 from the game, and I'm not sure where it is, but he texted me an address."

"Seriously? You STILL don't know the guy's real name and you're about to meet him for the first time ever, and you don't even know where?"

"Kendall calm down", I throw my hands out in front of me defensively. "I know this is weird, but I have a really good feeling about all of this and...and I'm halfway in love with him already. Don't make a big deal out of it." Kendall can be protective of me sometimes, but he knows his boundaries.

"Okay fine", he sighs, "But why don't you write down his username, e-mail, and the address he gave you in case something goes wrong?"

"I can do that", I smile at him. I understand how he must be feeling, but honestly I'm not going to let anything stop me from finally meeting the guy who I've e-mailed numerous times everyday for the past eight weeks. Leaning down to grab the notepad and pen off the coffeetable, I write down all the required information and hand it over to my roommate. "There. I'll be fine, I promise", I coax him.

"Okay fine, but if you have any problems, call", he raises his bushy eyebrows.

"How about you? What are you up to tonight?", I toss the question out at him, realizing that I've been far too busy and stuck in la-la land to even ask him of his plans.

He rubs at the back of his neck, then tips his head up with a grin. "I have a date".

"Whoa really? Nice! Who is she?", my girly nosy gossipy side comes into play.

Kendall's green eyes dart to the clock hanging on the wall. "I'll tell you all about her later. You need to go now".

I narrow my eyes and jab my index finger at him, knowing he's trying to push me out before spilling any details. "I will find out EVERYTHING later", I warn him and pad to the front door.

"Okay", he nods as he playfully shoves me. "Just go before you're late and be careful and have fun".

"Will do", I beam at him before walking out the door and closing it.

...

I reach my destination and park in the large parking lot before stepping out of my car and taking a look around. The lot is far from empty but I don't see anyone who appears to be just standing around waiting for anyone, so I take my phone out and e-mail this guy. **I'm here...where r u?**

A moment later, I get a response that reads **Go on the pier and look for the man holding a sign with your name on it. I'll be there soon.**

It only takes a minute for me to find the pier, which I ascend and scan around for someone holding up a piece of paper with my name on it. A smile immediately crosses my lips when I see a man dressed in black pants and a black and white striped shirt standing on a boat. It's a gondola and he's a gondolier! My heart skips a beat, I remember telling my e-mail buddy that my favorite movie is Lady and the Tramp, and I think it's so romantic; and that I've always wanted a gondola ride. Now it appears as if this dream is coming true.

I nod to the man who points at me and repeats my name, then he graciously takes my hand and helps me into the boat. I get settled nicely onto the blanket and look around, taking in all my surroundings. The sun is high up in the sky, painting the horizon beautiful colors and several other couples cuddle together as they enjoy their own ride.

The sound of someone running makes my head turn and I see a man running towards the gondola I'm occupying, dressed in a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a hunter green button up. As he nears, I recognize him as Kendall, and notice he's carrying a bouquet of flowers. I attempt to stand up to see what's going on, but the gondolier motions for me to stay seated, and I observe curiously while Kendall and the man chat amongst themselves, and the man unties the gondola, setting it free.

He picks up his oar, and Kendall carefully maneuvers himself through the boat and takes a seat next to me on the cushy blanket. "Hey ZombieBride77", he nervously smiles and greets me by my username on the web game. My jaw drops, and I can't seem to find any words as he hands me the vibrant, gorgeous bouquet of gerbera daisies, my absolute favorite. "Y-you...you're Zom-be-killah90?", I choke out.

"Yeah", he turns towards me and tilts his head, reading the silent question in my eyes. "One day you left your game on when you loaned me your laptop and I- I made a profile and started playing myself and contacted you", he confesses.

"But why?", I ask and bring the flowers to my nose to smell their sweet scent.

"Because I like you...as more than a friend", Kendall admits.

Wow, I'm shocked to say the least. I've seen the kind of girls Kendall likes, and I am nowhere near their type. It's pretty ironic how we even met; we were assigned roommates at the dormitory in college, because somehow someone got mixed up and put down that Kendall was female. Regardless, it worked out and we quickly became friends and moved out together to a house off campus during our sophomore year. I'm not gonna lie, I've had quite a crush on Kendall, but I never acted on it because we were such good friends, and then when this new guy came along, I kinda let that fade away in the distance.

I look down at the flowers in my hand shyly, not sure what to say. I blurt out, "Why?"

"I've liked you for a long time. I just didn't know how to tell you, and what if you don't like me the same way? I didn't want to ruin our friendship or make things weird for you, so I pretended to be someone so that you could get to know a different side of me and...and nevermind", I hear the frustration in his voice as he waves hand through the air.. "It was stupid and I'm sorry."

I rest my hand on his arm. "It's not stupid at all, Kendall. It's really sweet". I chew on my bottom lip for few seconds. "And I kinda had a crush on you before...", I let my sentence trail off.

"Really?", he asks. I nod my head and fix my dress while he pours both of us a glass of white wine, and hands me a flute glass. "To Valentine's Day...and maybe new beginnings?", he toasts, rather unsurely.

I clink my glass against his and tip my head to the side. "New beginnings...I like the way that sounds." Never in a million years would I have thought that Kendall Knight was the man I've been talking to, and more or less given my heart to without ever 'meeting' per se. We continue chatting until the sun sets, and the gondolier shakes his head vigorously up and down at Kendall.

Kendall makes his way to the front of the boat, and I watch as he takes his guitar out of the case and sits on a low stool, then starts playing with the strings to make sure it's in tune. "I kinda thought this would go perfectly with tonight", he utters apprehensively and then clears his throat.

I immediately recognize the song as his fingers play the first few chords, and I feel my lips turn up at the corners when his smooth voice croons along. I'm practically swooning as he plays and sings _Bella Notte _from Lady and the Tramp.

"_Oh this is the night, it's a beautiful night_

_ And we call it bella notte_

_ Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes_

_ On this lovely bella notte_

_ Side by side with your loved one,_

_ You'll find enchantment here._

_ The night will weave it's magical spell,_

_ When the one you love is near._

_ Oh this is the night, and the heavens are right_

_ On this lovely bella notte_

Kendall returns to me when he's finished, and I can't seem to stop smiling. "That was incredible and so romantic!", I unintentionally gush and grab his hand, then crane my neck up to kiss his cheek.

"I hope you like everything I planned for you", his thumb lightly rubs back and forth over my knuckles, sending a fuzzy warmth flowing through my body.

"I can't imagine it being any more perfect", I tell him honestly.

"I wouldn't say that just yet", he stands up, takes my hand, and helps me up as well.

"What do you have up your sleeve Mr. Knight?", I only half joke. I mean, obviously he has something else planned and I'm a very impatient person.

"You'll see", is all he offers, combined with a wink, then begins to walk away, still holding my hand.

I carefully follow him; even though the boat is no longer moving, it's still challenging to walk while it's floating on top of the water. We climb out and onto a secluded dock that is lit up by hanging lights, complete with a table set in the middle. Lit tapered candles and rose petals adorn the table, as well as various utensils, two bowls of salad, a bowl of breadsticks, two covered dishes, and two wineglasses.

"Kendall", I gasp upon seeing the sight. It's beautiful and he must have went through a lot of trouble to plan this for me. "Oh my gosh!"

He chuckles and his green eyes are sparkling proudly as he ushers me to the table and pulls a chair out for me. I sit down and let him push me in a bit, before whispering, "Thank you", and setting the napkin on my lap.

Before he walks away, Kendall pulls the metal cover from over my plate, exposing a dish of shrimp fettuccine alfredo that smells heavenly. Of course this man knows how much I adore alfredo. I wait until he seats himself and takes the cover from his own food, revealing a heaping pile of spaghetti and meatballs before eating.

"You...umm", I start to say, grabbing Kendall's attention when I'm about halfway done my food and my stomach is full. "This was wonderful but you didn't have to do all of this", I spit out.

"I know I didn't have to", he sets his fork down and puts his hands together. "But I wanted to. I wanted you to know that I think you're special, and not just some ordinary girl".

My heart swells and I drag my chair over next to Kendall's and sit back down, wanting to be closer to him. Kendall has always handed out compliments to me, but I thought he was just being nice. Tonight though, he's showing me that he means it, and I'm flabbergasted; like this is just unbelievable. Not able to help myself, I reach over and steal a strand of spaghetti off of his plate. I place one end in my mouth and hold the other out to him, hoping he gets what I'm doing. Thankfully he does, and Kendall puts the other end of the long noodle in his mouth, and just like in my favorite movie, we both work our way up the pasta until our lips meet, causing him to chuckle. I've heard his laugh millions of times before, but this time it's different; this time the sounds electrifies my skin.

I pull away, chewing the remaining pasta in my mouth and swallow it before taking a sip of my wine and skimming my fingertips over his bare arms. I look into his eyes, seeing the same, intense, indescribable emotion in those green orbs that I'm currently feeling. Slowly, I let my arms snake up his biceps, and over his shoulder to the back of his neck. I lift myself up to his height and press my lips against his, silently thanking him for this precious evening and letting him know that tonight is most definitely a new beginning for us.


End file.
